City Oilers

City Oilers is a basketball club based in Lugogo, Kampala, Uganda. The team competes in the Ugandan National Basketball League (NBL), where it has won nine championships, the most in league history.[1] The Oilers play in the Basketball Africa League (BAL) in the 2023 season.

City Oilers
City Oilers logo
LeaguesNBL Uganda
BAL
Founded2011 (2011)
HistoryCity Oilers
(2011–present)
ArenaMTN Arena
LocationLugogo, Kampala, Uganda
Team colorsBlue, gold and green
     
Main sponsorCity Oil
PresidentHajji Mohamed Ghedi Santur
Head coachMandy Juruni
Team captainJames Okello
Championships8 Ugandan Leagues

History

The club was founded by a group of friends who decided to play basketball together. They started playing pick-up games at courts in Kampala, with former national league players joining. Later, Justus Mugisha became head coach and suggested the team joined a basketball league. In 2011, the team was pitched to the director of oil company City Oil and the team was founded as City Oilers.[2] The team started in the NBL Division III in 2011. Later, the team promoted to the NBL Uganda, which it would win eight straight years from 2014. Additionally, the team made several continental appearances, including the 2009 FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup.

The team played in the first round of the 2022 BAL Qualifying Tournaments[3] where it finished the group play 2-0 but eventually withdrew before the start of the Elite 16. The following year, City Oilers qualified for the 2023 BAL season after beating Urunani in the third place game of the Road to BAL.[4] The Oilers finished 6th in the Nile Conference, winning one game out of five.

Honours
The Oilers celebrating winning the 2022 NBL championship

National Basketball League

  • Winners (8): 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2022[5]

In international competition

In the FIBA Africa Clubs Champions

FIBA Africa Clubs Champions Cup (1 appearance)

2009 – Ninth Place

In the Basketball Africa League

The City Oilers have played in the Road to BAL three times, qualifying in 2023.[4] They won their first BAL game at May 5, 2023, beating Ferroviário da Beira 96-75.

Season Road to BAL Main competition
W L Result Qualified W L Result
2021 5 4 Fourth Place No DNQ
2022 2 0 Elite 16[lower-alpha 1] No DNQ
2023 6 2  Bronze Yes 1 4 6th in Nile Conference
Total 13 6 1/3 1 4
  1. In the 2022 qualification, City Oilers withdrew before the start of the Elite 16.

Personnel
Mandy Juruni is the Oilers' head coach since 2013

Current roster

The following is the City Oilers roster for the 2020 BAL Qualifying Tournaments:[6]

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

City Oilers roster
PlayersCoaches
Pos.No.Nat.Name
G 4 Uganda Drileba, Tonny
G 5 Uganda Mayes, Jordin
G 8 Uganda Komakech, Ben
G 9 Uganda Johnson, Josh
G 10 Uganda Muhwezi, Ivan
F 11 Nigeria Azolibe, Chijioke
F 12 Uganda Omony, Stephen
G 13 Uganda Opong, Robinson
SF 14 Burundi Ndikumana, Landry
F 15 Uganda Okello, James (C)
G/F 23 Uganda Omongin, Abel
G 25 Uganda Juuko, Daniel
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)
  • N/A Bashir Mohamed
Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • Injured Injured
Updated: 17 October 2019

Notable players

Note: Flags indicate national team eligibility at FIBA-sanctioned events. Players may hold other non-FIBA nationality not displayed.

Criteria

To appear in this section a player must have either:

  • Set a club record or won an individual award while at the club
  • Played at least one official international match for their national team at any time
  • Played at least one official NBA match at any time.

References
  1. "City Oilers win sixth Uganda basketball championship". The Independent. 18 October 2018. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
  2. Kaweru, Franklin (25 April 2020). "City Oilers: The making of Uganda's most successful basketball club". Kawowo Sports. Retrieved 1 December 2021.
  3. Ulinzi starts Dar show DANN O’WERRE (The Star), 29 October 2021. Accessed 18 February 2022.
  4. "City Oilers overcome Urunani to punch last ticket to the Basketball Africa League 2023". FIBA.basketball. Retrieved 2022-11-27.
  5. Mister City Oilers! John Vianney Nsimbe (The Observer), 13 February 2020. Accessed 29 June 2021.
  6. City Oilers at FIBA.com
    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.